The Core-Strengthening Ab Workout You Need Now

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Want to tone your abs? Get off the floor. Crunches suck anyway, right? Strengthen your core with simple yet effective hanging exercises. All you need is a pull-up bar (or maybe a set of monkey bars at your local park) to shred your midsection while improving your overall upper-body strength and endurance. These hanging movements engage key core muscles with the added benefits of also increasing your grip strength and decompressing your spine.

But you're here to look a little better shirtless, aren't you? So focus on these three exercises, which will help tone and tighten your abs (including the tough-to-target lower belly and side obliques). While they look simple, we promise that you're whole midsection will feel like it's on fire afterwards—but you'll also start to see some muscles poking through in no time. Not to mention, you're recruiting and engaging more muscles in your arms, shoulders and back at the same time. The key is to focus on staying stable and not allowing your body to swing too wildly. The more control you have, the quicker you'll develop a strong and performance-ready frame. Start each of these exercises by grabbing a pull-up bar and beginning at a dead hang. Then get to work.